Sony PRS-650

Even today, the PRS-650 can still be called a game changer: E-Ink Pearl and IR touchscreen technology have had a lasting impact on the market’s evolution.

At a Glance

The Sony PRS-650 was the first eBook reader aimed at the (German) mainstream market to feature a modern E-Ink Pearl display. This screen technology is still used in many devices today and offers excellent readability. The PRS-650 is no exception: while the display is a bit darker (and thus the contrast somewhat lower) compared to today’s models, its image quality still holds up remarkably well.

Initially, fans were less than enthusiastic about the loss of the unibody aluminum casing, which was made even smaller in this model. The back is now made of plastic. However, this change brought clear advantages: the device no longer felt so cold to the touch, and its weight was noticeably reduced.

Navigation is primarily handled via the infrared touchscreen. The Sony PRS-650 was the first eReader to use this technology, making it a pioneer and a role model for many other devices. Kindle Touch, Kobo Touch, and numerous others followed its example. The big advantage at the time was that no plastic layer was required over the display, which significantly affected display quality in then-common capacitive touchscreens. Today, this is less of an issue, which is why the more expensive infrared technology is becoming increasingly rare.

The Sony PRS-650 represents the pinnacle of the Japanese electronics giant’s eBook reader business. In many ways, this reading device set the standard for its competitors. Later Sony models could only partially meet the high expectations held by many Sony fans.

Sony PRS-650: Full Review

With the PRS-650 Touch Edition, Sony is now launching the fourth generation of its eBook readers—a device that enters the fray with some sky-high expectations. Disappointment with the previous model and a chorus of critical voices have put Sony under real pressure to deliver a convincing answer. In our review, we’ll take a close look at how Sony’s latest offering stacks up, highlighting both the reader’s biggest strengths and its most important drawbacks.

Unlike its predecessor, the PRS-600, the PRS-650 doesn’t use a resistive touchscreen—which relied on pressure and required a separate layer above the eInk display. Instead, it features a touchscreen based on infrared sensors. This approach promises to solve the biggest problems users had with the earlier model: poor contrast and pronounced screen glare. At first blush, the idea sounds promising. But can the new reader really deliver on those promises? Read on to find out.

Unboxing

Looking back at the bundles that came with previous Sony readers, some long-time fans may feel a twinge of disappointment this time around. The very first models in the 500 series shipped with a high-quality leather case; by the time the PRS-600 rolled out, you only got a cheap cloth pouch. With the PRS-650, Sony unfortunately continues down this path—even omitting a case entirely. Inside the box, all you’ll find is a quick start guide, the reader itself (complete with stylus), and a USB cable for charging and synchronizing data.

Build Quality

Given their track record, Sony has set a high bar for build quality, and the PRS-650 lives up to the name. The front is dominated by the six-inch display, which, due to a change in technology, sits a little deeper in the housing than it did on older models. This has absolutely no negative impact on display quality or your reading experience. Just beneath the screen you’ll find a plastic strip with clearly labeled buttons. The whole front is encased in a high-quality aluminum frame. Unlike earlier generations, however, the aluminum doesn’t wrap around the back. While this might seem a cost-cutting measure at first glance—doubly so given the lack of a case—it’s actually an upgrade: the plastic back is much more pleasant in the hand compared to the cold aluminum of older devices. So what looks like a minor design compromise actually translates to a big day-to-day benefit for comfort and handling.

The five buttons on the front are easy to navigate by touch and have a pleasant, precise tactile click wherever you press. At the bottom edge you’ll find the volume rocker, alongside a small hole for the reset button (which can be activated with a paperclip or similar). The power slider is located at the top edge. All buttons are very well made, and if anything, they feel more solid than those on the PRS-350. None show even the slightest hint of wobble.

Chrome buttons on the front, volume rocker and 3.5mm headphone jack at the bottom

Distinct from the PRS-350, the PRS-650 sports a stylish chrome trim around the edge, giving it a more premium feel. Its softly rounded edges make it a joy to hold, and at just 215g, you can easily read for hours without fatigue.

Features

Feature-wise, the PRS-650 sticks to the strengths of Sony’s 6-inch reader line-up. Alongside the now-standard (micro) USB port you get a 3.5mm headphone jack for audio. There are also two memory card slots (each prefilled with dust-protecting dummy cards) for SD cards and Sony’s own Memory Stick DUO—tried and tested features brought forward from earlier generations. Sadly, the device still lacks any form of wireless connectivity—there’s no WiFi or 3G option here.

The stylus conveniently docks into the top right corner of the device. As with the buttons, the stylus feels a step up in quality from the one bundled with the PRS-350.

Display

The absolute highlight and standout new feature of the PRS-650 is, unsurprisingly, its display. The 6-inch screen offers a resolution of 800×600 pixels—no surprise there. The real leap forward is Sony’s switch to an infrared touchscreen. Unlike traditional touchscreens, this method doesn’t require an extra touch-sensitive layer above the eInk, which lets the PRS-650 sidestep the major pitfalls of the PRS-600, namely poor contrast and lots of glare. In fact, the PRS-650 now boasts one of the best eInk screens on the market. Sony uses the latest-gen eInk Pearl displays, which offer faster page refreshes, more shades of gray, and significantly better contrast than their predecessors.

PRS-505 (left) with older eInk technology compared to PRS-650 (right)

Reading & Usability

With the top-notch eInk technology and the touchscreen unobstructed by extra layers, the display is every bit as crisp and legible as you’d hope for. Glare is no worse than what you’d get on a PRS-505 or comparable readers, but contrast and black levels are a clear cut above. The PRS-650 comes very close to the visual quality of a printed page. If eInk is new to you, our buyer’s guide is worth a look. The technology’s greatest advantages bear repeating: eInk only draws power when the image on the screen changes, meaning your eyes can relax and you can read comfortably for hours without screen fatigue. On the flip side, with no backlight, you’ll need an external light source for reading in the dark.

A key question with the new touchscreen tech was whether it would be fast and responsive enough. In practice, it works beautifully. The touchscreen reliably registers input with good precision. You can jot notes and sketches either by finger or with the included stylus. That said, you’ll notice that both reaction speed and precision have their limits, which are a function of both eInk and infrared scanner technology. For reading, this presents no issue at all—but if you’re after a true digital notepad replacement, you’ll find the device a bit limiting.

Font size can easily be adjusted at the bottom of the screen

Turning pages is quick and can be done via the buttons or by swiping across the touch screen. The magnifying button makes it easy to change font size—you’ve got six settings to pick from. The text will always reflow to fit the screen width. There’s also a separate zoom function without text reflow (in which the line breaks don’t adjust to the screen)—here you use your finger to select a section you want to view. This is especially helpful with detailed PDF documents. However, there are some practical drawbacks to zooming this way: you’re forced to choose between your ideal zoom and ease of navigation. If you lock your view to a specific section of the page, you lose the ability to scroll further—neither touchscreen nor buttons let you move around. If you hit a page turn button, you’ll only see the comparable portion of the next page—not the whole text. Want to jump to another section? You’ll have to leave zoom mode, but then you can’t turn pages while zoomed in. So: it’s impossible to keep your zoom level and continuously navigate within or between pages using just the buttons.

Zoom function without text reflow in use

The reason you might need to use zoom like this is that the automatic margin trimming doesn’t always work perfectly. Bottom line: highly complex A4-sized PDFs (with tables, images, or diagrams) can still be tricky to read, since even the very effective reflow function may not display tables or may misplace images (an issue with the PDF format’s design, not the reflow function itself). There are also two- and three-column view modes, which work fairly well for magazines and scientific articles designed in columns. Despite a few gripes, it must be said that compared to the wider eReader market, the PRS-650 still offers above-average performance and options when it comes to reading PDFs—though there are some limits. In short: for plain, text-heavy PDFs, the PRS-650 is almost a no-brainer thanks to its fantastic reflow. But when it comes to heavily formatted PDF documents, results are often only so-so and sometimes require a lot of manual tweaking.

Locked zoom view

For normal reading, the reader displays in portrait orientation by default. Since there’s no orientation sensor, you’ll need to bring up the options menu via the touchscreen to manually change the screen layout. Switching orientation is just as quick as everything else on the device. In landscape, you can just about make out A4 PDFs on the 6-inch display—but the font is tiny, so it’s not well suited to regular A4 document reading.

English-German dictionary function

Another highlight is the translation tool built into the device. If you double-tap a word with your finger or stylus, it’ll be looked up instantly in the built-in dictionary. A small window will pop up at the bottom of the page with the relevant entry, and if you want more details, you can open the main dictionary for extended translations. There are dictionaries for translating to and from English with German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch. Unfortunately, the only dictionaries included are English-based, so translation only works with English and the other languages. On top of the translation feature, Sony also includes the New Oxford American Dictionary and the Oxford Dictionary of English for definitions—though, of course, that’s limited to English texts. The classic German Duden dictionary is, regrettably, not part of the package.

The note-taking function is quickly found via the options menu. As mentioned above, jotting down notes isn’t quite as fast or precise as on capacitive touchscreens, but overall, it’s handy and plenty serviceable. The stylus lets you highlight passages in your document or add freehand drawings wherever you like. You can also create notes directly via the handwriting menu or as text memos. For text-based notes, an onscreen QWERTZ keyboard pops up, and text input via the touchscreen is straightforward, though not as fast as typing on a physical keyboard like those on some Kindle models. All your notes, whether inside a document or created separately, can be viewed as a summary via the “All Notes” section on the home screen, where you’ll see them sorted by date, title, type, comment, or filename. Tap a note to jump right to the relevant spot in your book.

Notes function in action

Compatibility

The Sony PRS-650 supports all major eBook formats, though only ePUB and BBeB files can be read with DRM protection. For unprotected content, the reader also opens PDF, Word, TXT, and RTF documents. It displays image files in JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP formats as well. Any image can be set as the standby screen—whenever the device goes into standby (and uses no power), that’s the image you see. Unlike the PRS-350, the PRS-650 can play audio files in both AAC and MP3 (though not those with DRM protection).

While playing audio, a small music icon appears on the lower toolbar. Volume is easily controlled with the rocker at the device’s bottom edge. To stop playback or jump between tracks, you’ll need to reach for the options menu. Returning to your book is just as easy. The device itself doesn’t let you create playlists; if you want to group tracks, you’ll need to do so on your computer before syncing. On-device playback is limited to shuffle and repeat.

Battery Life

According to Sony, the battery lasts for two weeks or up to 10,000 page turns. Unfortunately, the PRS-650’s battery performance wasn’t especially impressive in our review, especially compared with some other eReaders or past Sony models. Of course, as with any electronic device, your habits play a huge part in battery life: PDFs use more processing power than ePub, bigger fonts mean more frequent page turns, and using the touchscreen burns a little extra energy thanks to the infrared sensors. Still, in our tests, the PRS-650 drained faster than expected—both during regular reading and even in standby mode, where it lost more battery than some comparable or older models.

In numbers: after about 2,000–4,000 page turns, you’ll need a recharge. That’s enough for a hefty novel—but if you plan to tackle several books, expect to reach for the charger more often.

Software & Syncing

This part is essentially identical to the PRS-350: Installing the sync software is effortless as it runs right from the device. File transfers via USB are quick and intuitive. If the eBook you’re moving over is already in a reader-friendly format, it transfers instantaneously; if conversion is needed (e.g., to optimize PDFs), it may take a minute or two depending on size.

Managing your library with the Sony Reader Library is a breeze. You can export individual files or entire folders to the device. In Germany, recommended eBook shops include Thalia, Libri, or Mayersche Buchhandlung, but you always complete purchases on the bookseller’s website—not within Sony’s software.

Of course, you’re not tied to the sync software. You can also simply copy files over via Windows Explorer, just as you would with a USB stick. That said, the sync software is handy when dealing with PDFs, as it cuts down on processor load when first opening a document or adjusting font size, which ultimately helps your battery last longer.

Conclusion

Sony’s PRS-650 is a genuinely excellent reading device—though not without a few bumps in the road. The first, obvious disappointment: the bare-bones package. While most are used to Sony readers shipping without a charger (generally not a problem, given eInk’s battery life), it’s a letdown that a device in the €200+ price range comes without a proper cover. Another shortcoming is the complete lack of wireless—no WiFi, no 3G. For some, this won’t matter, but others do appreciate the convenience of purchasing books right from their device. Since Sony doesn’t offer direct purchases through its own software, being able to buy content on-device would be a big plus. Sony might be wise to follow Amazon’s model and offer this as an optional feature. One more criticism is the battery life, which—while still much better than, say, a tablet—doesn’t quite measure up to other eInk devices.

The good news? The PRS-650’s positives far outweigh its few drawbacks. All told, the device is a fantastic piece of hardware with only minor flaws. The display is truly outstanding: black levels approach those of paper, making reading comfortable even in less-than-ideal lighting. Add a light weight, top-tier build quality, and a device that simply feels great in your hand. Page turns are fast, operation is totally intuitive, the touchscreen is responsive, and the option to expand storage by memory card completes an already compelling package. Software-wise, PDF support is further improved—still not perfect, but currently the best in the eReader market. The handy text reflow feature, in particular, deserves special mention.

Bottom line: the PRS-650 is a superb device, and in our view easily worth the premium over the PRS-350, as it strikes the ideal balance of size, weight, and screen real estate for an eReader. Thanks to its comprehensive feature set, outstanding build, and much-enhanced PDF and overall text readability on its larger screen, the PRS-650 earns a very good rating in our review, along with a clear recommendation to buy.

Photos

Predecessor

The Sony PRS-600 was the direct predecessor to the PRS-650. The main innovation of the PRS-650 was that it was the very first eReader on the market to combine an infrared touchscreen with an E-Ink Pearl display—a combination that dramatically improved readability over the PRS-600.

Sony PRS-650: Technical Specifications

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